Students who make a habit of resigning from classes will have to pass a few roadblocks before taking an "R," if a proposal discussed at Tuesday's Faculty Senate meeting is passed.
The Faculty Senate Grading Committee proposed a course resignation policy change, which, if passed, would require students to seek academic advisement for every resignation they make after their fifth.
The Faculty Senate will vote on the proposal when they meet next month.
"We are not saying that you can only resign five courses, but that you need to talk to someone about it," said William Baumer, chairman of the Grading Committee. "There does need to be some control and initiative to get students to think about resigning."
Melanie Stotz, a freshman psychology major, said students will benefit from seeking academic advisements before adding six or more resignations to their transcripts.
"I think it is a good idea," Stotz said. "Because if you are taking a lot of classes that you are resigning from, you need to rethink your career path."
According to a report provided by the Grading Committee, 6.5 percent of students each semester resign courses, and of last year's graduates, 53 percent had taken at least one "R" during their terms at UB.
The report stated that juniors tend to take the most resignations, as do students taking courses in the College of Arts and Sciences and those who have not yet selected their major.
In addition, the report stated that between 64 and 106 students per graduating class exceed five resignations, typically from higher-level courses.
According to Janina Kaars, assistant vice provost for academic affairs, to maintain this new policy, UB would have to "look to our friends in the computing part of the world" to implement a method of blocking students from resigning a sixth class before meeting with an advisor.
Megan Randall, a freshman communications major, said she does not think the policy will be effective.
"If you are going to resign from your classes, regardless of talking to your advisor, you are going to do it anyway," said Randall.
Although schools such as Iowa State and Penn State limit the number of resignations that students could take, Baumer said, he personally does not think this measure would not be appropriate for UB, because a policy that limits resignations would "generate more problems than it would solve."
"If the student gets to the point of five resignations, there are usually serious issues about that student's program," said Baumer.
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
